E X T E N S I O N WHY VENICE AND CYPRUS? Shakespeare s Othello takes place in Venice and this is not surprising. It is a story rich in passion, jealousy and sexual tension. In fact the Elizabethans considered the Italians passionate, jealous and murderous1. When Elizabethan playwrights2 wanted to describe strange and mysterious situations, they often set3 the plays in Italy or created ungovernable Italian characters. Venice was particularly exciting to the English. It was considered a very liberal city, an ancient free republic, one of the few places in Europe where the presence of foreign4 people was tolerated because it represented a contribution to the development5 of commerce. Venice was appreciated also because of the complex architecture of its buildings on the lagoon. Foreign people came to Venice to 1. murderous: omicida. 2. playwright: scrittore di teatro. 3. set (set-set): far svolgere. 4. foreign: straniero. 5. development: sviluppo. Venice: Cà d Oro. 54